


Just Like Real People Do

by fandomwolfx



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Varchie!Centric, discussions of cheating, issing scene, post 5x03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:53:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29228763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomwolfx/pseuds/fandomwolfx
Summary: A girl, a boy, a dance, a bedroom.or what happened right after the scene in Archie's room in 5x03
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge
Comments: 9
Kudos: 34





	Just Like Real People Do

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is super cheesy and I get that, so if it's not your thing that's cool !!!

He tells her that his only crazy plan is summer school, he knows that it’s wrong to deny her the truth- yet again. 

He promised himself after the whole… mess with Betty that he’d never lie to Veronica again, but this is most likely the last time he’ll ever hold her in his arms and he doesn’t want to disrupt the moment by announcing he’s joining the army and going off to war.

He can’t give her the truth, but maybe he can save her even more heartbreak. 

Her head is resting on his chest and he wouldn’t be surprised if she catches on that he’s lying purely based on how loud his heart is beating beneath his rib cage. 

Their bodies are twisted and entwined, the position isn’t exactly comfortable and both of his palms are sweaty from clasping onto hers so tightly. 

“I should probably leave” she whispers, not making an attempt to move. 

All the heat leaves his body immediately as a cold, icy feeling invades, seeping slowly from his goose pimpled skin right to his beating heart. 

Reluctantly letting go of her hands, he shifts slightly so they’re facing each other, arm still wrapped around her waist as she settles on the precipice of the bed. 

“Stay” he says, voice strained as his throat seems to close. 

“Don't…” she starts with a stuttered breath, “don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be,  _ please.”  _

Archie wants to argue back, make the point that no matter how long they drag this out it’s going to hurt like a bitch, so why not have those few extra moments? 

He fights the thoughts, figuring the least he owes Veronica in this situation is to be able to definitively end this on her own terms. 

Veronica’s hand appears from underneath the sheets, to caress his jaw with her thumb, he hadn’t realised it was tensed but upon her touch the muscle slackens and he leans into it. 

“Anyways” she starts laughing slightly, “we were never really good at officially ending things were we? Almost always more of an ellipsis than a full stop, but it has to be a full stop this time Archie.’ 

He nods in agreement even though he vehemently disagrees, at least if he nods he can disguise the fact he’s currently trying to nuzzle his head into her palm.

“I’ll see you at graduation tomorrow, okay?” she says whilst pressing a kiss to his forehead, that isn’t really so much a kiss as it is her muttering the words against his skin. 

She starts to move away and his eyes dart around the room desperately trying to find something,  _ anything,  _ that will make her stay just a few extra minutes: just the two of them and the artificial glow of a lava lamp. 

His eyes catch sight of his guitar looming in the corner after he had been practising in the morning for the graduation ceremony. Grimaces at the pretty negative impact that music has had on his life recently, from the literal affair in his garage to the revelation at prom… 

“Dance with me” he blurts out. 

She freezes. 

_ Good, he thinks. I have a chance to keep you here a couple moments longer.  _

“Pardon?”

“I believe that I still owe you a dance from prom before the voyeur interrupted.” 

“You know for a fact that wasn’t the only reason you didn’t get to dance with me that night Archie, surely you must know at least that.”

Okay, he deserved that one.

“Right, right” he agrees, shifting so that he’s resting on his elbow and peering down at her, “but you said we need to put a full stop to it this time, and… and we can’t do that if I still owe you a dance.”

He can see her weighing out the pros and cons. 

“My Dad raised me to be a gentleman you know, I don’t like to break promises or owe anything to pretty girls.’

He’s going to hell, he is most certainly never seeing heaven for bringing up his recently deceased father for five more minutes with a girl, but if he’s not going to heaven he’s going to use these last five minutes with Veronica Lodge to achieve something similar. 

“Archie, we have no clothes on, and most of them are out in the hall or on the stairs, and I’m pretty sure that a dance with no clothes on is a completely different type of tango” 

He peers over her shoulder and onto the floor next to the bed and shrugs. 

“Our underwear is still on the floor?” 

She presses the heel of her hand to her brows and snorts at how obtuse he’s being. 

_ Oh God am I going to miss that sound _ , he thinks. 

His fingers circle around her wrist and move them from her face so he can ask: 

“I’ll take that as a yes then?”. 

They finally untangle themselves and start the search for their underwear throughout Archie’s room, it’s a little awkward but they both laugh when they find her bra hanging on the end of the bedpost. 

He’s in his socks and boxers, whilst she’s back in her panties and bra. 

Once dressed, Veronica clears her throat and stands in the very center of his room, Archie goes to join her and they both stand there uncomfortably, at least a foot in between them. 

“So,” she starts, rocking back and forth on her heels, “what song did you have in mind?”

He scratches the back of his head, “I’m not gonna lie Ronnie I hadn’t really thought that far ahead.” 

“Fantastic.” she quips. 

“If you give me a second to grab my phone from downstairs I can-” 

“Serenade me.” 

He blinks once, then once again. 

“You wanted this to be our big grandiose final moment Archiekins” she responds, the teasing quality in her voice putting them back into comfortable territory, “and nothing has more gravitas or romance than serenading someone.” 

“Okay…” 

Outstretching his hand so that he can pull her closer he racks his mind for a song that can encompass the enormity of his feelings, and there’s probably a hundred different ones out there that fit perfectly, but right now in the moment they all fail to capture what he feels, none of them seem good enough. 

He rests his chin on top of her head and she presses little kisses over his bare chest, they’ve only ever slow danced at formal occasions before and without the heels she’s so tiny. 

Her hands make their way to the nape of his neck whilst his sit firmly on her waist: a mirror image of prom, the circumstances much different.

They sway slightly and every song lyric that Archie has ever memorized slips from his mind as he focuses on the lazy rhythm they seem to be ‘dancing’ too. 

“Archie’ she whispers. 

“Mhmm”

“I think you’re supposed to be singing me a song right now” 

“Shit, yeah I forgot.” 

He’s accepted that he’s not going to be able to find a song to express his feelings so he just sings the lyrics he’s been practising all day. 

_ “Another turning point _

_ A fork stuck in the road _

_ Time grabs you by the wrist _

_ Directs you where to go” _

She angles her head back slightly so she can look at him, confusion etched onto her features. 

“Greenday?”

He nods. 

“I see, so are you telling me good riddance?”

“Obviously not” he scoffs, “I’m pretty sure you knew it was more of a reference to time of my life than anything else” 

“I see, I see” she replies pretending like she’s only just realised, “so, we went from two kids in America to American idiots it seems, huh” 

“This songs actually on a different album, not-”

“I’m aware, Archie- I was  _ trying  _ to be nostalgic, but Mr. John Mayer over here just had to point out the inaccuracies with my music knowledge.” 

“Sorry.” 

“I forgive you” she says, the weight of the words implying that she’s not talking about the comment he just made. 

He continues through the rest of the song, she joins in with parts of the chorus, clearly the only words she knows and it's nice, and normal - something that seems to be a foreign concept these days, especially in the town of Riverdale. 

They’re both smiling and swinging their arms slightly as he reaches the last chorus, he steps back and moves his arm higher, when Veronica stops him. 

“Archie Andrews” she says breathlessly, “were you going to twirl me?”

Heat immediately reaches his face as he gets embarrassed over how honestly cheesy he’s being. 

“Yeah, that was, that was the plan” 

“Are you going to go through it?”

“Would you like me to go through it?”

“I think I would, yes.” 

“Okay then” he smirks. 

“Okay” she smiles. 

He takes a deep intake of breath before continuing the chorus, and of course spinning her around. As he expected she’s extremely graceful and he remembers the time that she told him that her mother forced her into ballet lessons as a child and how much she hated them, hated being told what to do. 

When her spin is complete, one hand finds its place at her side and the other holds onto her own. 

He’s reaching the last iteration of the chorus and he suddenly wishes he decided to sing Bohemian Rhapsody at graduation, or any song that was longer than this one so that this moment can last longer than it currently is. 

The uplifted mood from 30 seconds ago dissipates into that of a somber one, the pace of their dancing slowing right down as he reaches the last line and he makes sure her eyes are on his as he sings _ “I hope you had the time of your life”.  _

His eyes move down to her mouth and he doesn’t even realise that his hands have grabbed her face until he can feel his lips on hers. 

The kiss rapidly grows in intensity and Archie knows his lips are going to feel raw for hours afterwards, Veronica pulls away quicker than he would have liked and when he goes to follow she shakes her head slightly. 

He stands there, hands still securely on her face breathing and hair equally messed up and thinks this is it. 

Instead Veronica moves forward by a fraction of an inch, but it's enough to send Archie into overdrive: the feel of her breath on his skin, the fact she’s on her very tiptoes but still barely reaches his chin, the intoxicating smell of her perfume mixed with the laundry detergent his mom buys… the smell of them. 

Her hand splays over his chest, right above both his scar and heart and she finally kisses him. Once again he tries to speed up the pace, but she takes control and slows him down. It’s not really one long passionate kiss as it is a long series of smaller, more chaste ones and they’re both trembling with self-restraint.,

Archie understands what she meant earlier on about how the longer they drag this out the more difficult it will be to end, so he’s the one to pull away this time. 

“That was a wonderful performance Archiekins.” she says, whilst having to physically remove his hands that are still on her face. 

Ever the gentleman, Archie runs through the hallway to gather her clothes and they both get ready in complete silence. They don’t even laugh at the whole Archie had ripped in her stockings (one out of the many, many damaged pairs over the years.)

He has his back turned to her, when he hears her call out that she’ll make sure to bring the box of his stuff inside on her way out, not wanting anything to get damaged. 

He hums in response. 

He hears her footsteps; once, twice, thrice, before they stop. 

“Archie…”

His head whips around at this time, to see her half out his door, hands clinging to the frame. 

“I just think you should know that I did have the time of my life… with you.” 

And then she’s gone, walking down the stairs leaving him behind. 

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy are the notes for this going to be long... 
> 
> Well what did everyone think of the graduation episode? Personally I was blown away with what us varchies got; it really felt like it was their episode. So much of the focus seemed to be on them (as it should be lol)
> 
> Like I knew we were going to get some angst and good moments, what I wasn’t expecting was the flashbacks, meta and symbolism of it all
> 
> Especially that end scene with Archie having the flashbacks to the first time he met Veronica and the first time he told her he loved her I nearly went into cardiac arrest. We even got Betty apologising to Veronica, never thought I'd see the day 
> 
> I’m hoping to get another graduation inspired one shot out before the time jump so look out for that !!
> 
> Onto the fic: the title for this fic is taken from my favorite song of all time ‘Like Real People Do’ by Hozier. Now the song is about a man who takes a decomposing skeleton from the earth and tries to start a romance which decidedly does not really reflect Varchie… at all (thank God) 
> 
> However, I do think the idea of wanting a normal and mundane relationship is very reflective of varchie, because obviously that’s what they always wanted and never got because normal doesn’t exist in Riverdale. 
> 
> I also have to mention that this fic is also inspired by the legendary Pacey and Joey: Basically in season 4 of the show Pacey breaks up with Joey at their senior prom and then seasons later when their romance is sort of starting again he points out that he still owes her a dance, and as soon as I saw that moment I knew I had to incorporate it into a varchie fic just because the situations are so similar
> 
> and for anyone who wasn’t aware the song Archie sings at graduation is called “Good riddance (tie of your life) so that’s what that was in reference to
> 
> also I’m aware this is a very cheesy concept so I totally get it if this isn’t your thing !!!
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are so very much appreciated and if you want to talk literally anything varchie with me you can find me on either twitter @ivyxevermore or Tumblr @ronniesandrxws xx
> 
> \- Eeliz :)


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